Dead body found in Manhattan Beach’s Polliwog Park [UPDATE]

Police investigating the discovery of a dead body at Polliwog Park. Photo by Todd Anderson

A dead body was found this afternoon at Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach, north of Begg Pool. The body, found at about 3:30 p.m. by City of Manhattan Beach Public Works employees, was wrapped in pink plastic material and concealed in a pile of fertilizer, according to police. Homicide detectives from the LA County Sheriff’s Department are being assisted by Manhattan Beach Police Department detectives.

LASD Lt. Dave Coleman said that the body appeared to be in state of decomposition. He said the death is being investigated as foul play.

“It’s very early so we haven’t done much yet with the scene,” Coleman said. “We are interviewing park workers and city employees as much as we can right now. All we know right now is that there is a body wrapped up in some materials that was left on top of a pile of fertilizer.”

“The bag was noticed by the workers earlier in the day but wasn’t approached until around 3:30,” Coleman said. “So it was there for some time before the police were called.”

No identification of the body has been made, and investigators have not yet indicated the person’s age or gender. The area around Begg Pool will be closed off the next 48 hours as police continue to investigate.

“We will continue our investigation,” Coleman said. “As you can see, our investigators are here, on scene. We will document the scene as much as we can during the daylight hours. Later in the evening, the coroner will be called and they will remove the body, intact, as it is, and take it to the coroner’s office where we can carefully take the materials off the body and investigate further.”

Lt Coleman asks that if anyone saw anything suspicious in or around the baseball field and Begg Pool at Polliwogg Park, that they contact the police. Manhattan Beach Police Department officers can be reached at 310-802-5100, or call the LASD tip line at 323-890-5500.